Bûche de Noël a la Cafe Creme

Happy Christmas!!

This year, my Christmas log became coffee flavoured.  Happy Christmas everyone. :) 

 Ingredients

For the coffee sponge

• 3 large free-range eggs
• 75g/3oz caster sugar
• 75g/3oz self-raising flour
• 2 teaspoons coffee granules (crushed to powder)

For the coffee butter cream

• 125g unsalted butter
• 200g icing sugar
• 50ml strong espresso coffee

For the topping 

• crushed walnuts

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Lightly grease a 33x23cm/13x9in Swiss roll tin, and line with non-stick paper or baking parchment, pushing it into the corners.
2. For the sponge, in a large bowl whisk the eggs and sugar using an electric hand whisk until the mixture is pale in colour, light and frothy. Sift the flour and coffee powder into the bowl and carefully cut and fold together, using a spatula, until all the coffee and flour are incorporated into the egg mixture. (Be careful not to beat any of the air out of the mixture).
3. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and spread evenly out into the corners. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 8–10 minutes, or until well risen and firm to the touch and the sides are shrinking away from the edge of the tin.
4. Place a piece of baking parchment bigger than the Swiss roll tin on the work surface. Dust with icing sugar generously. Carefully invert the cake onto the paper and remove the bottom lining piece of paper.
5. Cut a score mark 2.5cm/1in in along one of the longer edges. Starting with this edge, begin to tightly roll up the sponge using the paper. Roll with the paper inside and sit the roll on top of its outside edge to cool completely.
6. While the cake is cooling, make the coffee butter cream; beat the butter and add icing sugar little by little in a small bowl and beat with the electric hand mixer until pale and light. Then add the coffee little by little to make a smooth cream.
7. Uncurl the cold Swiss roll and remove the paper. Spread the coffee butter cream on top and sprinkle the walnuts, and re-roll tightly. Cut a quarter of the cake off from the end on a diagonal. Transfer the large piece of cake to a serving plate and angle the cut end in to the middle of the large cake to make a branch.
8. With a spatula, cover the cake completely with the coffee cream. Create a rough bark texture with a fork. Sprinkle with the walnuts. 
9.  Dust with icing sugar and garnish with fresh holly.

Coffee and Walnut Cake

As requested I baked this for the Birthday cake.  It is full of coffee flavour and very moist. 
Butter cream is tricky to make as it almost split.... but I just managed to hold it together to make a soft creamy texture. The key points for making perfect buttercream is NEVER use butter straight from the fridge.  Be patient to make sure the butter is soft. It's also important to mix the icing sugar little by little. This apply to adding the coffee as well. Fat and water do not merge together unless you do this carefully.
Anyway, this is a great cake for any occasion. It's one of my favourites.

Ingredients

For the cake            

• 225g (8oz) unsalted butter            
• 225g (8oz) caster sugar
• 225g (8oz) self-raising flour
• 4 free-range eggs 
• 50ml (1¾fl oz) strong espresso coffee
• 75g (2½oz) walnuts

For the buttercream topping 

• 125g (4½oz) unsalted butter
• 200g (7oz) icing sugar
• 50ml (2fl oz) strong espresso coffee
• 12 walnut halves, to decorate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until very light and pale.
3. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well to completely incorporate each egg before adding the next egg.
4. Add the espresso to the mixture and stir well.
5. Add the flour and chopped walnuts and stir well to completely combine.
6. Spoon the cake mixture into two lined and greased 20cm/8in cake tins.
7. Transfer to the oven to bake 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the cake is golden-brown.
8. Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
9. For the buttercream topping, beat the butter and icing sugar together in a small bowl until pale and light.
10. Add the espresso and mix well.
11. Spread the buttercream over the top of each cake, then place one cake on top of the other.
12. Decorate the top of the cake with the walnut halves and serve in generous slices.

  

Just like mayonnaise and hollandaise sauce, buttercream is an emulsion of fat and liquid that can break into its component ingredients if not handled properly. You'll know when it happens because your buttercream will suddenly look like cottage cheese.

Cream together the butter/margarine until it turns light and fluffy.

Beat in the icing sugar powder gradually. Keep beating until the resulting mixture becomes smooth.

Add the coffee liquid. Only add small amounts until the icing becomes of a spreadable consistency. It is always better to add less than too much.

For the busy baker, you can use instant coffee instead. That's what I normally do anyway.
                 

Coffee Buttercream

100g/3½oz unsalted butter

200g/7oz icing sugar

2 tsp coffee granules

1 Tbsp boiling water

Revised: Coffee and Walnut Cake

I posted coffee and walnut cake before but this is a revised version.  Classic coffee and walnut cake is a must-have item in the proper afternoon tea menu.  It can be elevated by decorating with coffee butter cream and even made in 2 to 3 layers.  But my recipe is a very simple home-eating version. I made simple coffee icing by mixing strong coffee and icing sugar.  You can make this with instant coffee powder, icing sugar and water.   Sometimes, I find the simple way is the best. :) 

Ingredients

• 6oz (175g) self-raising flour  
  
• 1 level teaspoon baking powder
•  6oz (175g) low-fat spread (or butter)
•  2 large eggs
•  6oz (175g) light brown muscovado sugar
•  2-3 rounded tablespoons instant espresso coffee powder 
•  3 Tbsp milk or water
•  50g walnuts, finely chopped 

For topping

• icing sugar
• espresso coffee 
• 8-10 walnut halves

 Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC, gas mark 3
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a roomy mixing bowl. Then add the low-fat spread, eggs, sugar and coffee powder. Mix them by using an electric hand whisk for about 1 minute. You may need up to 3 Tbsp milk or water to make the mixture into a smooth, creamy and dropping consistency.
3. Fold the chopped nuts into the mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool down.
5. While the cake is cooling, make up the topping. In a small bowl combine the icing sugar, coffee powder and some water.
6. When the cake is cool, decorate the cake with the coffee icing. 

Gâteau aux noix et au café

Here is a cake to impress. Well.. I'm more of a rustic baker, but I have tried to do more intricate work this time.
This is basically a classic coffee and walnut loaf cake, but when I was decorating it with coffee icing, I thought to myself, I could give this cake a classier name - French, perhaps? Sounds better, doesn't it? So, I checked Google Translate and got "Gâteau noyer" which, apparently means "Walnut Tree Cake". Without knowing this silly mistake I published this title on my Redbubble site. But a trusted Twitter friend corrected my mistake soon after she visited my site. Phew - So now it is officially "Gâteau aux noix et au café" (coffee and walnut cake).
Believe it or not, it is actually a low-fat cake. I use low-fat spread instead of butter. I ignore the statement on the low-fat spread tub, "not suitable for baking", because it works well. However, I have to reduce the amount of liquid in the mixture as the low-fat spread contains more water than normal spread.  The result is lovely, moist and guilt free....(I didn't mean gluten free).
This is a coffee version of  my Low-Fat Lemon Cake. I use soft brown sugar instead of caster sugar to give a rich and deep flavour. I also add very strong cofffee which is made with two tablespoons of warm water and espresso coffee powder instead of milk. Chopped walnuts are added instead of lemon zest.